Dream of Siam

On this page I will be gathering some information on retirement in Thailand.

Retirement planning

If you are thinking of retiring to Thailand it is really important to go through a lengthy planning stage. I recommend as you starting point read the following pages as a minimum:

Before you Move to Thailand
Planning your Move to Thailand
Mistakes when moving to Thailand

It's very important to make sure you are clear on the various legal requirements for retirement in Thailand and also to consider the alternatives. For example, you might find it's better for you to go there and work or run a business for a few years before fully retiring.

Thailand retirement visa

The good news is Thailand has a visa designed for people who want to retire to Thailand : the Cat O-A Non-immigrant visa.

You need to prove you have certain funds available to get this visa (or to have it renewed), but you don't have to transfer that money into Thailand (but you do need proof of funds). At time of writing the requirements are 800,000 Baht capital amount or 65,000 Baht monthly income.

Note that the capital amount of 800,000 Baht has to be present on an annual basis. In other words you must have 800,000 Baht available in your account at the end of each year in order for the authorities to approve renewal of your visa. This comes as a shock to a lot of people!

If you intend to retire with your spouse, and she is non-Thai, your spouse will only be given a Cat O (not O-A), so theoretically she would have to do a visa run every 90 days! Unless you are content to send your partner off on their own to the nearest border town, then you will probably be accompanying them too.

This means the O-A now doesn't look as attractive as the Cat O, as the Cat O does not require proof of funds.

Further, if your spouse then applies for a Cat O-A, they will be assessed in their own right as far as income or lump sum is concerned.

This means to retire as a couple you would need a lump sum of 1.6 million Baht (annually), or a monthly income of 130,000 Baht. This recent change has obviously made it a lot harder for couples to retire to Thailand.

Rather strangely, if you have an O-A visa and exit Thailand, you won't actually be allowed back in on it, as the O-A doesn't allow multiple entry. So, you need to also obtain an O visa, which does allow multiple entry. This is included in the O-A application paperwork (see link below).

One of the main advantages of the O-A visa is you don't need to do a visa run every 90 days. You do need to present yourself to the authorities every 90 days though, although this can now be done by post. In the case of the O-A you can have the visa extended by the authorities at the end of the year.

Note the O-A visa does not permit you to work in Thailand.

Click here to download the retirement visa paperwork.

Make sure you read through all of the materials very thoroughly.

Retirement activities

One area where Thailand really shines as a retirement destination is in the wide range of activities that are available. With the sunny (if sometimes too hot) climate there are no end of out-of-doors activities. There are many sporting and adventure activities in Thailand including white water rafting, scuba diving, kayaking, snorkeling, beach combing, swimming (in pools and the sea), island hopping, bungee jumping, caving, elephant trekking and many more. In addition there are great opportunities for more creative actvities such as travel writing, photography, travel, cultural visits (temples, museums).

Thailand is one place where you won't have a boring retirement!